Embracing Fantasy to Live the Dream

Porter Robinson Releases ‘Worlds,’ His First Album

Porter Robinson, 22, a D.J. of electronic dance music, has released his first full-length album.Credit
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

In 2010 an 18-year-old unknown named Porter Robinson began turning heads on the electronic dance scene for his spastic, high-octane production. Now Mr. Robinson is a star of electronic dance music, or E.D.M., but the sounds that appear on his first full-length album, “Worlds” (Astralwerks), released on Tuesday, would no doubt be puzzling to many of his fist-pumping boosters. After several years of performing at bacchanalian festivals like Ultra and Electric Daisy Carnival, Mr. Robinson has rejected that mind-set and the head rush of adrenaline that currently dominates the scene. On “Worlds,” he has opted instead for washes of gorgeous textures, contemplative storytelling and remarkably sharp melodies.

Mr. Robinson, 22, was interviewed recently by phone in his hometown, Chapel Hill, N.C., where he was walking his dog, Zorro, around the neighborhood. He talked earnestly of video games, D.J. constraints and drug culture, exuding both nervous humility and plain-spoken confidence about his talents. Here are excerpts from that conversation.

Q. What were the main influences on this album?

A. I basically spent my childhood on the computer, playing online games and watching animé, starting with Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, and then anything on Adult Swim. “Worlds” is kind of a homage to all those fictional universes that I loved growing up.

I’ve also been listening to the music I kind of grew up with: the soundtracks from Dance Dance Revolution, StepMania and The Legend of Zelda. Also a lot of [the Japanese pop star] Kyary Pamyu Pamyu: It’s the best art-directed pop project and the best pop songwriting of all time.

A. When I started writing music at age 12 until age 18, my goal was to write music to impress producers. I wanted to have the most technically savvy, complex production that wasn’t necessarily focused on musical ideas.

I had a song that happened to do well [ “Say My Name,” from 2010] and then suddenly was asked to go on tour. I had never seen a D.J. before, I never D.J.ed myself, or cared about D.J.s at all. It was like, “You’re going to pay me $500 bucks to go out to Portland and play music that I like? That sounds amazing!”

Because I was not coming from that culture, it freed me up from a lot of constraints that D.J.s have imposed upon themselves, like referencing other people’s sets or letting a song ride out for a long time. I was definitely among the first electro-D.J.s to mix super fast: one break, one drop, and you’re out and on to the next song. Now that’s like every D.J. set.

Q. When did you become less comfortable with the electronic dance music scene?

A. There were all these opportunities presented to me with different artists [like Skrillex and Tiesto], and I kept taking them. Eventually, I found myself with a massive following and not much of an idea of what I wanted to do or represent artistically. I kind of had this angst where I found myself at the top of this E.D.M. scene, and I didn’t know what I stood for. So it was important to find what the next step was.

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A. I basically went off tour and totally immersed myself in my home. It took a lot of introspection and working to find out what charms me. I found that so much of my taste derives from escapism and fictional universes. Everything pointed to this certain kind of surrealism and weirdness. It definitely wasn’t drug-inspired surrealism. I realized a lot of what I was channeling was related to video games tropes. I kept finding myself using chords from classic animé intro progressions.

Q. This album has received a lot of buzz, from sites like Fader and Rolling Stone. Why might it be resonating with people?

A. It kind of feels like people were waiting for something like this to happen — some kind of disruption to the E.D.M. scene. There are guys out there that are amazing craftsmen, but don’t have artistic vision. And right now the scene is a lot of hashtags and promotions and people’s Twitter accounts being run by their managers. There’s not a lot of risk taking or authenticity. Not that I’m the greatest or most authentic — I just think people are ready for a shake-up.

A. My live tour that I’m about to do over the course of the next two months. It’s not going to be D.J. sets. I’m going to be playing exclusively my own music. I’ll be singing and triggering samples and running multitracks and playing keys. I think it’s important that people realize it’s not meant to be this craziest party of all time. Overall it’s kind of a more sensitive experience.

Q. Are you bothered by the drug culture at electronic dance music festivals like Electric Zoo or Ultra Music?

A. I think everyone has their own way to enjoy the show. I don’t smoke, and I’ve never rolled [taken MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy or molly] in my life. It’s hard for me to understand what people are feeling. But at the same time, my favorite experience in life, probably, is drinking a lot of caffeine and getting really hyped up and listening to music and going for a drive. And that’s chemically assisted and it’s one of the most transcendent, beautiful experiences I’ve ever had. Of course, it’s critical that people be super safe about it.

A version of this article appears in print on August 16, 2014, on Page C3 of the New York edition with the headline: Embracing Fantasy to Live the Dream. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe